Now open: From Kenyan cuisine to Greek fare, add these Birmingham restaurants to your list

From Kenyan, to Greek, to Cajun fare, add these eight recently opened restaurants in Birmingham to your list.
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A host of new restaurants have opened this year in the Birmingham area, and the list keeps growing. Planning to head out for a bite to eat? Here are a few restaurants to add to your list.

Sahani Kitchen
David Kimani (left) and Collins Ngure have expanded the Sahani food truck into a kitchen, commissary, and food truck community (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

Kenyan born brothers David Kimani and Collins Ngure started the Sahani food truck in 2020. The mobile eatery, which makes its rounds to area breweries, bars, and parks, boasts a fusion of Kenyan cuisine and twists on American fare. The plates feature grilled meats such as chicken and lamb mushkaki topped with bell peppers, onions, and seasoned with spices such as cumin, black pepper, and coriander. The combos menu offers wings, Philly cheesesteaks, loaded fries, and quesadillas, served with signature Sahani sauce.

The Sahani food truck (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

This spring, Kimani and Ngure expanded their offerings with Sahani Kitchen, a take-out only buildout on Birmingham’s southside. With the new project, which has a full kitchen, came new menu items including whole roast fish served with ugali or Kenyan chips. Patrons can place orders for pick and delivery (delivery is restricted to the downtown/ southside Birmingham area).

In addition to housing the Sahani truck, the buildout is also a commissary and stopping point for other mobile eateries.

Sahani Kitchen|2521 4th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35233| www.facebook.com/sahanibham

Tasty Town Greek Restaurant and Lounge
Tasty Town offers a dining room, large bar area and lounge (Courtesy, Pihakis Restaurant Group)

Tasty Town Greek Restaurant and Lounge, the new Greek restaurant from Pihakis Restaurant Group, opened June 22 in downtown Birmingham. Housed in the bottom of the Lumen building at 10 14th Street, South at the west end of Railroad Park, Tasty Town offers a dining room, large bar area and lounge. The menu centers Greek and Southern ingredients and techniques, including small plates and entrees such as souvlaki grilled over live fire, fresh seafood, bright vegetables and traditional dips with fresh baked pita bread.

Tasty Town Greek Restaurant and Lounge, the forthcoming restaurant from Pihakis Restaurant Group, will offer a menu of Greek fare, wine, beer, classic and custom cocktails, as well as non-alcoholic libations. (Credit: Angie Moiser, Pihakis Restaurant Group)

Tasty Town Greek Restaurant and Lounge| 16 14th St. S. Birmingham 35233| eattastytown.com

The Spun Cow
The Spun Cow offers a section of hand spun cotton candy (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

The Spun Cow, the Pizitz Food Hall’s newest dessert stall, opened in the former Edolyn’s Pies space this past spring. The ice cream and confectionary stall boasts a menu of ice cream, hand spun cotton candy, and floats.

A root beer float from The Spun Cow (Shauna Stuart| Al.com)

The Spun Cow| The Pizitz Food Hall| 1821 2nd Ave N #3112, Birmingham, AL 35203| www.thespuncow.com

I Love Tina & Gina’s
I Love Tina & Gina's specializes in New York Style sandwiches (Shauna Stuart|Al.com)

While a slew of new stalls have opened in the Pizitz Food Hall over the past two years, the food court was missing a sandwich shop. Enter I love Tina & Gina’s, which opened in May. Helmed by Long-Island born Christina Harrison, the shop is a tribute to New York. While living in Atlanta, Harrison saw a number of friends open businesses in Birmingham, so she decided to visit the city. Then, she fell in love. Harrison, who had plans to open a restaurant, hadn’t considered the downtown Birmingham food hall. That is, until she saw the space.

“I thought ‘I have to put something here!’ ” she told Al.com in an interview. She decided to build a concept devoted to her two favorites: sandwiches and salads.

“I’m a sandwich lover. Sandwiches and salads are like my thing. And the only way for me to have a good one is if I made my own,” said Harrison. “I have to make my own sandwiches. I could never find what I was looking for in sandwiches in the South. Not like back home, where you have your delis on the corner or you could make it how you want it.”

“So I said, you know what? I’ll make my own. And that’s how Tina’s and Gina’s came about.”

Harrison, who officially moved to Birmingham in April, built her own bodega in Birmingham-- and the menu boasts New York classics.

“My staples are the Boogie Down Bronx chopped cheese. It’s popular all over New York, but it started out in the Bronx. It’s just like a must-have. If you go to any corner deli in New York, you can get a chopped cheese all the way.”

Christina Harrison, the owner of I Love Tina & Gina's, speaks to a customer. (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

“The Italian Stallion, of course, is a staple of all Italian delis all over New York. Especially Italian sandwich shops.”

Harrison has two favorites: the BEC --or the Bacon Egg and Cheese-- and the Soho club.

“The club, to me, is a Southern sandwich. I just kind of gave it a New York twist and a New York name. It’s a take on the Manhattan, which is a fancy sandwich. It’s got London broil with smoked gouda cheese, microgreens. All of the bougie stuff. So, I just kind of name my sandwiches after some of my favorite places and favorite things about New York. Soho Club is like the hottest club in New York, so I wanted the Soho club to be the hottest sandwich.”

I Love Gina & Tina’s boasts another New York staple-- Boar’s Head meats.

I Love Tina & Gina's specializes offers a selection of Boar's Head meats in addition to sandwiches (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)
Grinder seasoning and bruschetta spread in the deli section of I Love Tina & Gina's (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

“You can’t go to a deli in New York and not get Boar’s Head meat,” said Harrison. “So, if I am going to open up a deli, I have to have Boar’s Head.”

But, Harrison admits it wasn’t easy to get the flagship New York staple into her shop.

“Board’s head is very, very tough to partner with. I almost applied for a job with them just so I could get through the door and talk to who I needed to talk to so I could have them in my deli,” she said, laughing. “But they finally came along and it’s been a great partnership.”

In addition to sandwiches, I Love Tina & Gina’s offers a selection of meats and cheeses, as well as condiments and sides. Also on the rundown: a monthly lineup of sandwich specials, such as hot honey chicken and meatball parmesan.

I Love Tina & Gina’s | The Pizitz Food Hall| 1821 2nd Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35203| www.instagram.com/ilovetinasandginas

SOCU Southern Kitchen & Bar
The dining room at SOCU Kitchen & Bar in Birmingham (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

The Birmingham location of Chef Erica Barrett’s SOCU Southern Kitchen & Bar opened in May at the Pizitz Food Hall.

While the layout of this location is different from her restaurant in Mobile, Barrett wanted to bring the same Creole and Southern Gulf flare to the Pizitz food hall.

“We brought that French feel through the patio,” Barrett told AL.com in an interview.

Barrett’s aim was to keep the design of her Birmingham restaurant familiar. Her signature press wall lined with news articles and restaurant reviews is still a staple of the dining room design, as well as the chef’s table, where patrons can have a front seat view into the kitchen.

The patio at SOCU Kitchen & Bar in Birmingham (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)
Chef Erica Barrett speaks to patrons in the dining room at SOCU's Birmingham location. (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

“Whenever I go to restaurants, I prefer to sit at the chef’s table. Some people prefer to sit at a regular table. But I’m nosy,” Barrett said, laughing. “I love the chef’s table, so people can see all of the action and all of the chaos. This is like the heartbeat of the restaurant.”

Interested in sitting at the SOCU Southern Kitchen & Bar chef’s table? Request the table at the hostess stand or through a reservation on Open Table.

SOCU Southern Kitchen and Bar| The Pizitz Food Hall| 1821 2nd Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35203| www.eatsocu.com/birmingham

The Goose
The Goose sports bar in Avondale (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

The Goose opened this past May in the former Spring Street location. The Avondale sports bar is flanked with patio seating and a green space called The SideYard, featuring a high top and gaming area.

The Goose Avondale (Shauna Stuart| Al.com)

The Goose| 4100 4th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35222| https://www.facebook.com/The-Goose-BHM

The Cajun Steamer Bar & Grill
The Redfish Rockefeller at The Cajun Steamer Bar & Grill (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

Cajun Steamer Bar & Grill opened its sixth location this past spring in Cahaba Heights. The new location joins restaurants in Hoover, Trussville, Huntsville, and Murfreesboro and Franklin, Tenn.

New to Cajun Steamer? Try the Redfish Rockefeller, a creole redfish filet topped with jumbo shrimp in a creamy spinach & bacon sauce, served over Cajun mashed potatoes. Not a fan of redfish? Try the dish with mahi-mahi or chicken instead.

The Cajun Steamer Bar & Grill| Vestavia Hills, AL 35243| cajunsteamer.com

Lady E’s Chick’n Cafe
The hot lemon pepper wings at Lady E Chick n Cafe (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)

Birmingham native Lauryn England made history in March when she opened Lady E’s Chick’n Cafe, the first restaurant in Alabama helmed by an openly transgender Black woman.

The neon sign inside of Lady E's Chick n Cafe

While Lady E ‘s $99 24 karat gold wings made huge waves on social media in April, the restaurant also boasts a number of affordable wings, cheesesteaks, sides (such as fried okra) and deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Another huge perk-- the late night hours. Lady E ‘s is open on Fridays until midnight and on Saturdays until 2:30 a.m.

Lady E’s Chick’n Cafe| 1905 Park Pl, Birmingham, AL 35203| https://www.facebook.com/ladyeschickncafe

Have a restaurant that opened recently? Know of one coming up? Send an email to Shauna Stuart at sstuart@al.com.

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